The 23rd annual Victorian Christmas open house Sunday at Heritage House, a restored Victorian home at 8193 Magnolia Ave. in Riverside, will evoke a simpler time when people made holiday decorations and gifts by hand. Festivities will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday and continue until 4 p.m. There is no charge.

"It's a tradition," said Jackie Matthews, publicity chairwoman for Riverside Museum Associates, the nonprofit group that supports Heritage House and other museums in the city.

"I think people, this year especially, are looking for traditions and things the way we used to do things," she said. "I think of my own grandmother. She would have fit right into this."

The house will be decorated much like it would have been in the late 1800s. Garlands with bright red bows and a tabletop Christmas tree lighted with candles will take the place of electronics and flashing lights.

"It's not a big Christmas tree because, where were you going to get them?" said Alan Curl, administrative curator for Riverside Municipal Museums.

Curl said the door-sized Christmas trees of today were harder to come by in the Victorian era. Trees that size typically had to be shipped in, he said.

Father Christmas, the precursor to the modern-day Santa Claus, will greet children with presents.

"His coat is longer," museum volunteer Dagmar Rees said about Father Christmas.

Entertainers will fill the air with song. The docents of Heritage House also will bring back carriage rides down Magnolia Avenue.

"Everybody likes those," Rees said. "It's our gift back to Riverside."

OPEN HOUSE

What: Heritage Christmas Open House

When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday

Where: Heritage House, 8193 Magnolia Ave. Riverside

Information: (909) 826-5273